Efforts by Lafarge and Holcim to sell assets as part of their planned merger may be complicated by the new McInnis cement plant in Canada, which some claim will inject more capacity into an already saturated market and further depress prices.

McInnis Cement's plant in the northeastern Quebec region of Gaspé will have 2.2Mt/yr of installed cement production capacity and may start shipping to clients in two years, according to Jim Braselton, a senior vice president at the company. That represents about 66% of the local cement capacity that Lafarge and Holcim plan to sell. The assets for sale, including construction and aggregates units, have an estimated value of US$884m, excluding the impact of increased supply by the McInnis plant.